Walking up my office stairs yesterday I felt something give out in my knee. I screamed out and could tell my knee couldn’t bear any weight. Near the top of the stairs was a Solution Industries baseball bat which I grabbed and used to support my weight like a walking cane. Ended up going to Cleveland Clinic Express Care which only served to get me an appointment to see an Orthopedic doctor sometime in early August. Seems a little better this morning but I still can’t climb stairs any better than one at a time (right foot up, then drag the left to the stair. Right foot up..). So, I’m staying put in the office today and that finally gives me a few minutes to post something on this sight which I have largely ignored for months. And candidly, it has been the better choice. Nothing against blog posts or social media stuff but business has just been outstanding. Activity has been outstanding. There are not enough days in the week to get everything done that comes to my mind and I’ve just been chasing too many income producing ideas to sit still and write much. And it also seems that the industry has been in that same mode. Not a ton of news lately other than a few stories here and there.
Acquisitions are always a topic of interest out in the field. Everyone wants to hear or talk about who might be acquiring who. I don’t always hear a lot of rumors and would not write them if I did. But I have heard that plenty of fastener distributors are aggressively looking to acquire other fastener distributors – they are very open and public about that. Lately, I think I have heard more talk about distributor activity than I have about suppliers looking to acquire other suppliers. Then again, one would think that stuff is being kept pretty quiet anyways. And until something actually happens, it’s all just talk anyways.
2017 has seemed to be a very strong year. I read an article in Fastener Industries News reporting on and NFDA meeting. In the article it quoted economist/speaker Alan Beulieu saying “there is so much positive going on”and added “these are the ‘good ol’ days'”. To get his full report, either read the article or join NFDA and hear it live for yourself but Mr. Beaulieu is very optimistic. The Fastener Distributor Index headed up by Fasteners Clearing House would also support the fact that we are enjoying a very strong market. The FDI has been above 60 for the last couple months! And if you do not know what the FDI is then go check out the Fasteners Clearing House or Fully Threaded Radio websites.
We are still in vacation season but past the 4th of July now. we are turning the corner and heading into the 2nd half of the year. All good the 1st half. Soon we will be talking about the Vegas Show and where everyone will be staying this year and where the show will be in 2018. And what are you going to do about Fastener Fair USA anyways? All I know is that it is my backyard and I’d offer to have a cookout at the house but Cleveland weather in April can be iffy. I’ll buy you a drink on E. 4th though if you hang around in the evening.
Feel free to share any thoughts or observations on what you see going on in your market. It’s like we are keeping up until we run into each other in Vegas.
Marty,
Best thing you have always done is not to print “Rumors”. There are too many in the industry and a fair amount of “Fake News” is being published…everybody trying to be first with a story. Keep up the good work, good luck with the knee and continued success!
Weather forecast from the National Weather Service for April 11-12, 2018 is low of 37 and a high of 57, gray sky and precipitation most likely in the form of either snow or rain!
TS:
Sorry about your knee problem and hope it is nothing too serious.
I am delighted with your very positive report on the fastener industry’s good business climate and hope it continues.
I look forward to seeing you and many others at the Vegas Expo.
Would agree, seems just about everyone has had a strong first half of the year. Let’s keep it going.
In the meantime, take care of that knee.
It’s depressing to see you remarking on the good ol’ days as if you’re decrepit. You’re still a young man, but you have to take care of the body. I’ve lost fifteen pounds recently and I’m not stopping until I’m the wisp of the boy I once was.
I hope you feel better, but if you don’t, I’ll relay a thought my grandmother shared with me long ago – you go to the hospital to die. You can thank my grandmother personally for that one when it’s all over.
Easy there Charlie. I wasn’t referring to age with the “good ol’ days”, I was referring to business. In other words, business seems so good right now that the economist was suggesting we will look back at 2017 and say, “those were the good ol’ days”. Another way of saying, make hay while the sun is shining. Referring to my age..I’m probably a mess on the other side. Like so many, I’m a lot younger in my head than my body. So, two days ago I couldn’t put weight on my knee. This morning I did the stationary bike because it didn’t kill when I was doing it. Hope that wasn’t a stupid thing but it felt pretty good to move it. Still have to see the doctor eventually but I’ll still keep in mind grandma’s thoughts!
Dang it Marty, not good! Hopefully just a meniscus tear which they’ll repair arthroscopically and you’ll be 100% in a month or so. Good luck my friend, been there done that!
I hope they can fix whatever is wrong with your knee. Take care.